The present invention relates to a device for removing impurities from data carriers, and more particularly to a device for cleaning photographic films, records, magnetic tapes and analogous data carriers which tend to become electrostatically charged due to friction, specifically, as a result of relative movement between the data carrier and a brush which is to remove contaminants, such as dust.
Data carrier cleaning devices are used in numerous machines or apparatus, for example, in photographic copying machines in which original photographic films are copied. In such machines, it is important to remove dust and/or other contaminants before the original is copied; this eliminates scratching of the sensitive film surface and reduces visual blemishes on the copy.
A drawback of conventional data carrier cleaning devices is that friction between the cleaning brush (or brushes) and the film causes the latter to become electrostatically charged which leads, among others, to even more pronounced adherence of dust particles to the film. Therefore, copying machines are often equipped with devices for ionizing the air about the film, or else to humidify this air. Neither approach has been particularly satisfactory. Aside from the fact that the additional devices are expensive, the space in a copying machine is at a premium and, therefore, the presence of ionizing or humidifying devices is objectionable. Also, ionizers generate odors which are likely to be offensive to many persons.